Didn't I just read a recent thread about Bill Heard?
Well, they just closed their doors here in Scottsdale AZ.
Seems they had a problem with financing????
I think that's what the thread was about. Oh well.
Dealers like this need to be gone!

 

Mustof been through the grapevine!

 

I think the thread you read within the last week was referencing Bill Heard in Sugarland (Houston). They are scumbags...

 

I believe the entire chain is in trouble though.

 

Scottsdale dealership closes; lays off staff
by Jane Larson - Sept. 13, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Bill Heard Chevrolet blames tight credit and its own slow reaction to a changing market for forcing it to slam the door on its flashy 2-year-old south Scottsdale dealership.

Bill Heard wrote Scottsdale officials that it laid off nearly 150 employees Friday.

The dealership will "permanently and completely" close its two McDowell Road locations, it said. A few employees might stay to help wind down operations.

Bill Heard opened the massive white box on 11 acres within sight of Loop 101 at McDowell Road in 2006. It moved its new- and used-car sales operations to the new store and retained its service, parts and collision-repair business at the old dealership two miles away along the city's Motor Mile.

"The new facility will allow Bill Heard to grow and contribute even more to Scottsdale's economic vitality," the company said when it applied for city approvals for the $12 million project in 2003.

Late Friday, employees milled about the Scottsdale operations. None would comment on the closures.


Adverse conditions cited

Bill Heard blamed the sudden closure on "unexpectedly poor financial performance, recent adverse actions by the dealership's lenders, and our inability to obtain sufficient financing . . . to continue to operate the dealership."

The firm separately cited "the declining automobile market in Phoenix" and the effect of rising gas prices on sales of the dealership's core trucks and SUVs.

The Scottsdale dealership was part of Bill Heard Enterprises Inc., a Columbus, Ga.-based company that has 13 remaining dealerships across the South and Southwest. It is one of the largest Chevrolet dealership groups in the nation, with more than $2.1 billion in annual sales.

But the chain hit a financial wall in August, when General Motors Acceptance Corp. cut off credit to finance new-car inventories at some of its dealerships, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported. The company did not say whether the Scottsdale dealership was one of those affected.

The chain said it would sell some dealerships to finance a move into other brands.

Chief executive officer Bill Heard Jr. told the newspaper the chain struggled because it reacted slowly to the economic downturn, its Chevrolet-exclusive business model, and tight consumer credit.


Special Arizona woes

The Scottsdale store was in the most trouble of all, Heard said in the July interview, in part because of tougher immigration laws.

"A month after we opened it, they kicked all the Hispanics out of Arizona," he was quoted as saying. "Our business fell off 60 or 70 percent, and there was a recession on top of that."

Bill Heard's move to the Loop 101 site followed the trend of dealers abandoning formerly cozy in-town locations like Scottsdale's Motor Mile and Phoenix's Camelback Road for wide-open spaces along Valley freeways.

The Bill Heard closure leaves Motor Mile with 10 or 11 dealerships, said Harold Stewart, acting general manager of the city's Economic Vitality Department.

"There is still a good variety of cars on the street, and that's a plus," he said. But the auto business has been changing, with more online sales and more custom orders from automakers' factories, he noted, and tax collections have been "not going nearly as well as folks would hope."

General Motors' sales have tumbled 18.1 percent from a year ago. It sold 28 percent fewer Chevrolet light trucks in August; Chevrolet car sales were flat.

 

The CEO of a $2 billion corporation didn't really say this, did he?

I think we may stumbled on the real reason.

 

"...they kicked all the Hispanics out of Arizona." I see that Mr. Heard has never been in Arizona.

I think their closure illustrates just how close to the wire that entire operation was running. They must have been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul for quite-a-while.

 

Now that there is funny, I don't care who you are.

 

I dunno, I might not think so if I was a Mez-can.

 

Heard in Las Vegas is very shady. The won't replace my noisy brakes, they want me to buy ceramics ($700).
I went to Fairway in Las Vegas instead. They replaced the brakes without question. I'll bring some donuts to their crew this week!
I won't be surprise if Heard in Vegas close down also.

 

Also google Bill Heard Las Vegas, the top 5 hits are people getting RIPOFF.

 

He sounds like a complete idiot!
After a remark like that, it couldn't have happened to a nicer so-and-so...

And I think that when GMAC says you're done.....you're done!

 

Sorry to see anyone close there doors but this Dealership was less than easy to work with anytime I was in there. This includes the old and new locations. And I was there many many times. I have lived in Az and Ia for many years. It seemed Heards sales people did there best to show us that they didnt care whether they sold you or your friends a car or not. From Pick ups to Suv's to Corvettes. We never did buy from them including this new big beautiful location but we did buy from other Chevy dealers in the area. I even remember a new Z06 there. I was talking with another Chevy dealer on this car a couple of weeks prior and then it was just gone. I just figured they sold it. Guess not. This same exact car per VIN showed up at Heards in Scottsdale at this new location and the car I could have bought for about 5k off MSRP was now 20K over MSRP. They even told me that a Diamondbacks Baseball player offered 12K over MSRP and they turned it down. And now this Dealership is gone. I am saddened but not surprised at all...

 

I agree with all of the above, esp. the last line.

But on an even more ominous note, the real crisis may not be just Heard's biz practices or financial issues. He may not be able to get financing due in part to the leadup to this weekend's financial negotiations regarding Lehman, Merrill and AIG, as well as possibly WAMU,

You decide, and even if you don't want to read the whole article, read that next-to-last paragraph: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/bu...gewanted=print

 

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

 

I think all the Bill Heard stores are shady. The one here in GA was selling people cars with my grandfathers GMS information!

 

YEP, BIll Heard is a rip off in Collierville, Tn too!!! Also, They have sold that location to Sunrise Pontiac. I am glad to see BH close the doors on that one. Maybe they will learn their lesson on customer service and how to treat the customers.. Bunch of BONEHEADS!!!

 

That right there would explain why GM cut off his financing, he was getting illegals approved for financing.

 

Here in Vegas, Bill Heard is a heavy advertiser. We went to look and found a Z06 for $75,000 plus a $14,000 "market adjustment" for a sticker just short of $89,000. Needless to say, we ran and bought the car somewhere else.

 

Wasn't BH the dealership with the $30k (+/-) add on to their sticker prices? What a joke. I guess the employee pricing really knocked them out.